China Stock Market May Extend Tuesday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The China stock market turned lower again on Tuesday, one session after ending the four-day losing streak in which it had tumbled almost 125 points or 3.7 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,290-point plateau and it's expected to open in the red again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on concerns over growth and on the U.S. debt ceiling. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow suit.

The SCI finished modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the resource and property stocks, while the financials came in mixed.

For the day, the index shed 19.75 points or 0.60 percent to finish at 3,290.99 after trading between 3,282.49 and 3,317.90. The Shenzhen Composite Index sank 14.42 points or 0.71 percent to end at 2,019.38.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.60 percent, while Bank of China rose 0.24 percent, China Construction Bank collected 0.45 percent, China Merchants Bank added 0.35 percent, Bank of Communications eased 0.17 percent, China Life Insurance plunged 3.65 percent, Jiangxi Copper dipped 0.10 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) retreated 1.39 percent, Yankuang Energy dropped 0.82 percent, PetroChina improved 0.67 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) increased 0.47 percent, Huaneng Power gained 0.64 percent, China Shenhua Energy climbed 1.00 percent, Gemdale declined 1.48 percent, Poly Developments sank 0.85 percent, China Vanke skidded 1.00 percent, China Fortune Land plummeted 3.19 percent and Beijing Capital Development slumped 2.49 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday. The NASDAQ spent some time in positive territory but they all finished solidly in the red.

The Dow plunged 336.46 points or 1.01 percent to finish at 33,012.14, while the NASDAQ dipped 22.16 points or 0.18 percent to end at 12,345.05 and the S&P 500 sank 26.38 points or 0.64 percent to close at 4,109.90.

The steep drop by the Dow was partly due to a decrease by shares of Home Depot (HD), with the home improvement retailer falling by 2.2 percent after it reported weaker than expected first quarter revenues and lowered its full-year guidance.

Ongoing concerns about the U.S. debt ceiling also generated some negative sentiment as President Joe Biden meets with top congressional leaders with no resolution.

Traders were also reacting to a mixed batch of U.S. economic data, including separate reports showing weaker than expected retail sales growth and an unexpected increase in industrial output.

Oil prices drifted lower Tuesday amid concerns about the outlook for energy demand following disappointing Chinese data. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended lower by $0.25 or 0.4 percent at $70.86 a barrel.